Carton for fragile articles



March 22,1932. F, D, G AY 1,850,584

CARTON FOR FRAGILE ARTICLES' Filed July 21. 1921 Patented Mar. 22, 1932 umran STATES PATENT fo Flcafl ram) 1). GRAY, or new Yoax, assrenoa, a: v assrexmrsgrozi norm-rim racxme conroaa'rron, a coaroaarron or nwzonx canron ron. mama anrrcnm Application filed m 31,

The improvements relate to cartons for fragile articles and the method of making the same, and more particularly to the form of said cartons and the article holders therem and the means employed in producing the same, which have a wider ap lication than that herein described and il ustrated, the illustration bein an'exemplification of the embodiment of the improvements. The objects of the improvements are m part the production of a carton, for the reception, carrying or other transportation of fragile articles such as eggs, which will securely hold an protect such articles, and in 16, some uses without the employment of any external box or casing, against all ordinary shocks tending to break them and which at the same time, on account of its form and construction, will have such a rigid character :0 as to maintain its form under all ordinary conditions, of use, and also may be re-used for the same or other pur se, if Otherobjects are the provision of a ventilated carton and holders, the simplification of the methods of manufacture and the saving of materials, power, heat and labor involved therein. T e improvements are inns-- trlalteld in the accompanying drawings, in w c ton for fragile articles open, embodying the improvements;

igure 2 is an outside plan of a portion of the same; 7

. Figure 3 is an elevation vertical and. sectional on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2, looking in the direction indicated by the arrows;

Figure 4 is an elevation of the cage forms 'on which the holding caps are given their culiar conformation p The body of the carton or holder consists of a sheet of material divided into two sec-. tions 1 and 2 provided at their jnnction with as a weak line 3 on which they are adapt-radio be folded to form a container enclosing the articles, and the holding on or domes 4 are formed in double rows an 9.1 therewith and so arranged that when t e sheet is.

so folded they will form individual cells for the 1987. Serial ZIO- 807,881.

cell 7 The cups or domes are provided with radial ribs 5 extendin from the base tothe a x of each dome tapering upwardly. E;- tween the ribs are de resslons 6 separating them and adapted to in contact with the articles, each cup forming half of the said I article received therein. At the apex the llbS are merged and form abutton 7 projectbe seen that in this manner there is.

of the cup, with the uniting button, forming a reinforcement at that point havlng great strength and resistance to outside pressure or shocks tending to cause injury to the article, so that when the-container is placed on a flat surface this reinforced portion will form a base and a protecting support.

Between t the base sheet is curved u wardly, as shown at 8 (see Fig. 3) while tween each four cups and around the edges and through the middle of the sheet are zones 9 which are approximatel plane," so that when-the containao Figure 1 is an inside plan of a box or car-{er is folde over on the article these zones of each section of-the sheet will be incontact with the similar zones of the other section, or nearly so. The material of-which the container is formed is also slightly thickened so as to form a relatively. rigid connectin web between the cups in each row and eac cup e cups or domes the surface of I as v and the one adjacent to it in each double row.

In this manner a rigid base is provided and at the same time separated connecting portions between the cells formed by the cups which will give the entire structure strength and a certain amount of resiliency, and also provide for the .circulation of air to ventilate the articles;

In use the articles, are placed in one-half of the carton, and the other half then folded down thereon to" enclose them snugly. If some are sli htly larger than the standard sizeas in t e case of eggsthe inwardly curved ribs 6 will yield to a sufiicient extent to permit the cell to close thereon, and in all cases the articles will be held thereby in a sh htly yielding grip so.that they will not rofi about therein while being carried or 5 otherwise transported, and the raised ribs 5 will protect them throughout their entire surface against external shocks or pressure.

' The carton thus described may be closed in any suitable manner, as b a piece of cord or the like passed around it tween the domes, orthe free edgles may be secured together in any manner. he entire device ma then be placed in an outside box or crate i desired, and this may be done with the carton in open position, one o n carton being placed over another. In t e drawings, a carton for a dozen eggs is illustrated, but the number may be increased or diminished at will.

The method of forming the ribbed cups and the base is illustrated n Fi 4, in which a sheet of metal 10 is provide with radial metal stri s 11 formin a cage having the Shag: of e ribs 5 of t ecups.

' a e sheets are formed by the well known feltingprocess of the art with the domes or cups pireferabl having substantially smooth un r en wal This isusually done by 'ng suitable forms through a bath having fibres suspended therein, while maintaining suction on the inner side-of the forms to draw the fibres of fibrous matenah'comprisin the base and the cups or domes. These eets are-then transferred, in a. wet, soft condition to plates such as the plate with the cages 11 thereon corresponding in number, position-and size to the cups, the cages engaging the inside surfaces of'the cups. The moldedsheets are now assed through a suitable compartment for ryi treatment where they are subeld on the cages. This causes them to shrink and harden and to form the de- 'ressed inwardly curved segments between t e bars of the cage and the radial ribs corresponding with the said bars. It also causes them to stretch to a certain extent over the cages, so that'the circumference of each cup or dome following-the contour of its sides will be as great as or greater'than the original molded cup. The result is that each cup or dome is p susceptible of considerable expansion'under internal pressure and compression under external ressure, without danger of injuryto the article held therein, and while protec the said article from injury. This metho of forming the corrugations alsomakes them very strong, and gives'them atendency at all times to return to their normal finished form 4 after being subjected to flattening or distorting pressure. This is probably due to the fact that the fibres are-not bent or twisted or moved from their normal itions or relations in the shrinking operatlon which causes I the formation of the ribs or corrugations, but

. at these connecting 'nst them and form 'a sheet a n 'ected to the action of heated air while being without articles therein the packed open in nested relation, and when are merely placed under tension and stretched while passing through the setting stage.

After the sheets have set and hardened. and are dried-to a suflicient extent to insure that they will retain the form designed, they 70 may be removed from the holders with the cages without difiiculty, as the bars of the cages are im erforate and do not therefore permit the fihres to engage them except superficially, andthere is a tendency on the 75 part of the cups to cree slightly toward the tops of the ca esan thus free themselves'therefrom. herefore ibis necessary only to invert the cages and permit the dried sheets to fall there rom by gravity,.but if any slight adhesion is found to exist under any conditions or with any particular material, the plates carryin the cages may be agitated or a moderate last of air'applied to the underside thereof to remove the sheets. 35

'In the shrinking and setting stage the upwardly curved portions 8 between the cups or domes are formed, producing the useful conformation heretofore mentioned. These portions, however, are not stretched to any material extent, and therefore retain their original thickness and their intended strength. In the process of forming the cups in the bath the sheet will be sligh y thicker I rtions than in the 9 domes owing to the act that the floating pulp is pocketed to some'extent between the moldson which the domes are formed, and this fact, together with the fact that these portions are not materially stretched in the drying operation leaves themthicker and" stron r, so that the entire holder is given suficient stiffness and strength to resist strains tending to bend it or cause ruptures. The particular form and arrangement of the 9 cups or domes and other, details may varied without departing from the scope of the present improvements, and the packing may be used in the place of flats in crates or other containers. When shi ped or stored.

eets may be they are superposed one u 11 another with 'articles therein, either fol ed or in o n po-- sition,'the cells may be arranged soat the cells of one 'tier' may be positioned in the :paces between those above and below them,

us economizing space and forming an interlockinglenga ement, and at the same time holding t e articles therein spaced from one) another. Iclaim: Q

Inpacking for fragile articles, a sheet of relativel yieldable unfinished pulp material having oll ow dome-like article-receiving1 and holding protuberances uniformly disd thereon, said rotuberances having substantially half-ovoid forms for conformmg to the shape of an eg for supporting same in upr ght. position, gome-shaped pro- .130

Lamaze tecting means defining outwardl bulged apices of said protuberances, the walls of said protuberances having bossed ribs extendin towards and merging with said dome-shapes 5 rotecting means, portions of the peripheral ases of said protuberances merging withthe sheet by flaring outwardly and upwardly at areas interposing at least three of said protuberances for providing elevated zones, other portions of the peripheral bases flaring outwardly and merging with one another at locations between contiguous protuberanoes and in planes oflset from the planes of said zones, whereby additional cushioning and 15 resilience is provided for the article holding protuberances as a whole.'

Witness my hand this 18th day of July, 1927, at the village of Herkimer, inv the county of Herkimer, State of New York.

20 FREDD. GRAY. 

